Kuaishou Released Intangible Cultural Heritage Incubation Program

On Mar. 27, the video streaming platform Kuaishou officially released the Kuaishou Intangible Cultural Heritage Incubation Program. The tech firm will proceed with pilot programs in selected areas including Xiangxi in Hunan province, Leishan in Guizhou province and Liangshan in Sichuan province, providing support in terms of business and management trainings as well as industrial and brand resources.

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According to the data report released on the same day, among the current 1,372 national-level intangible cultural heritage projects, Kuaishou has been involved in about 989 projects, accounting for 72 percent of the projects. In the past year, there has been a total of 11.64 million videos on intangible cultural heritage, with a total of 25 billion broadcasts and 500 million likes.

Zhang Fan, Program Director of Corporate Social Responsibility at Kuaishou Technology, said that before the era of short videos, thousands of folk craftsmen in China may have done only one thing in their lifetime, and their skills are rarely known by the general public. Short videos on the platform have shortened the gap between craftsmen and potential inheritors, and opened the door to a new market for these artisans, even possibly foreign markets.

She also mentioned that the major difference between Kuaishou and Douyin,is that all the content on Kuaishou pursues a sense of authenticity, that is a true depiction of real-life scenarios.

During the event, they introduced us to a group of content creators from Guizhou, nicknamed “Seven Romantic Fairies of the Dong Ethnic Group”. Most of the “Seven Fairies” belong to the post-00 generation. Coming from a remote village, they found their way to the outside world through posting selfies and home-made videos on the platform.

A village secretary was originally sent to this place for poverty alleviation services, and later convinced the seven girls to form a band. At the time the girls were still working outside the village to make a living. Right now, they have gathered 150,000 online fans due to local cultural content, and have made some profit by platform renumeration and selling relevant intangible cultural heritage products.

Villagers in poverty-stricken areas are sometimes considered outcasts of the internet era. With video platforms like Kuaishou, average villagers with skills and craftsmanship have found themselves a way to achieve self-awareness, build confidence and express themselves.

According to Zhang Fan, Kuaishou will continue to function as an incubator for all the county entrepreneurs of intangible cultural heritage, and will select 50 rural inheritors into this Kuaishou Rural Entrepreneurship Incubation Program, while providing resources and support in all dimensions.

Featured Image Source: Kuaishou